Magic and Mist
by Vital Calamity
Summary: It shouldn't have worked. Annabeth told me that it was impossible, and she's almost always correct. But, if that was the case, why could I conjure fire? I was the son of Poseidon, not some fire god. And if fire worked - what else could work? Enchantments? Barriers? Or could I control the elements, or gravity? In the end, I don't know much about magic - but I'm going to find out.
1. Prologue

_**Magic and Mist  
Prologue**_

It was a snowy wonderland outside.

New York had been buried under a blizzard for the past few days and, due to the fact that the cars outside my window were pinned in by about a foot of snow, school was canceled.

I was absolutely okay with that. It gave me a little more time to tinker.

See, near the end of the summer I'd gotten into a discussion with Annabeth about Demigod's and their powers. Annabeth had said that all Demigod's had abilities, but not _powers._ The Hermes kids would always be quick on their feet and really, _really_ sneaky while the Athena kids were always super smart and good at math.

The others got some, too – Aphrodite's kids were attractive, Apollo's children were good with healing and Ares birthed insane hellions who loved war and bloodshed.

My opinion is _not_ biased. Not at all.

But, anyways; those were all _abilities_. Not powers. Powers were things like Thalia Grace's ability to control lightning and, partially, the air. Circe's Charmspeak was also a power, something she'd obtained somewhere along her considerable lifespan. Someone else with powers was that son of Hephaestus that caused the Great Chicago Fire back, like, a millennia ago.

Or was it a century…? Never mind, it doesn't matter.

Another example of someone with powers is myself. I can control water and, partially, the earth. But, at the same time, I have some abilities too. I can breathe underwater, can talk to fish and horses, heal easily while submerged…

You get the idea. Powers are things that need to be focused on to be used and abilities are things that come naturally or just happen.

So, I'd wondered, was there any way for someone to gain powers?

And then Annabeth told me about the children of Hecate. The Goddess of Magic. The overseer of the Mist. The women whose kids could conjure fire, create lances of force, toss up magical shields, illusions and _more_ by using the Mist.

Now, I know that Annabeth told me that it was impossible for me to use. That it was something beyond my ability to control due to my father being Poseidon or something or other.

But, as I gazed upon the small flame that rested on my palm, I knew that I'd proved her wrong. It was small – more like a dying ember than an actual spark of flame, but it was _there._ It flickered erratically, like any small disturbance in the air would snuff it out, but I'd done it.

I'd used magic.

The urge to shout and rave like a lunatic with his arms thrown into the air was really hard to keep contained because _I'd used magic!_

It's different from my normal powers – I'd been born with those. I was born a son of Poseidon, able to control water like it was an extra limb and use a bunch of other abilities too. But this? This was something I'd _earned._ Something I'd managed to wield through sheer determination and force of will. I'd created _fire._ The element directly opposite of the one I was _born_ to wield.

It may be but a spark, a small little bit of flame that could hardly be used for anything other than lighting something like a cigarette, but _I'd done it._

I pushed those emotions and feelings to the side – to be used as fuel. I'd learned that the fire needed _something_ to burn, whether it be from an outside source or from something from the inside.

So, that in mind, I directed the happiness that I was currently feeling towards the small flame. The pride and joy that had come from finally seeing some progress from my hours of effort. The amusement that came from showing it to Annabeth and making her acknowledge that she'd been wrong. I coaxed all those emotions towards the small ember that I could see oh so vividly in my minds' eye.

And, in return, the small ember in my hand transformed into a bit of flame that was a few inches high and a comfortable glowing orange. The smile on my face grew even larger at the sight and, for a brief moment, I thought that I saw a figure in the flames looking back at me in astonishment.

But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

My legs buckled out from beneath me and, before I could blink I'd already crashed to the floor of my bedroom. A tingling sensation made its way through my limbs and my head felt light – like someone had taken out all the brainy bits and replaced it with air.

The fire had been snuffed out somewhere along the way. The moment before I fell, the moment after I'd fell or somewhere in between I don't quite know. What I did know was that I felt so utterly _empty._

And confused. I felt confused. But, hey; I _always_ feel confused so that's nothing new.

At least I hadn't managed to catch something on fire. Yay for small mercies.

It took me a few minutes to finally pull myself back together and drag myself up off of the floor. My head felt like it was full of cotton and rampaging Chihuahua's that were barking a slow, pounding beat into my skull.

I grimaced as I plucked a pair of boxers from my head, absently noting that I _really_ needed to clean my room.

If I'd learned one thing from this experience though, it was thus: using emotions to create fire was possible, yes, but I should probably work with existing flames first. Or something else that I'm more attuned to. Like water.

I shook that thought from my mind and plopped onto my bed. That was quitter talk – thoughts. Whatever. I rubbed my aching head and tried to focus on creating the fire once again.

As one of my teachers used to say: _"Try, and if you fail, try again. If you fail a second time, try again. If you fail a third time,_ _ **try again.**_ _Try, and try and try – for one cannot succeed unless they try."_

A small spark lit on my palm as I focused my intent and drew on some of the ambient Mist.

I'd have to thank Chiron when I saw him again.

…

A few hours later, my mother walked in to find me collapsed on my bed, body quivering in exhaustion and drenched in sweat.

When you consider the fact that I was only in a pair of shorts, it's easy to see why she took it the wrong way.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She sputtered out, covering her eyes and turning around to go back the way she came. "I'll just, uhm, be in the living room."

I was going to say something – _anything_ – but my lips remained sealed as she beat a hasty exit from the premises. I blinked once, and then twice before I let out a groan and flopped back onto the bed.

Goddammit.

It took me a little while to finally drag myself off of the bed and throw on a shirt. Suitably dressed, I drug my feet the whole way out of my room and down the hallway.

I heard the TV playing quietly when I finally entered the living room, some soap opera or other, but completely ignored it in favor of making my mom – who was sitting on the couch with her face flushed in mortification – stop thinking whatever she was thinking.

"First things first," I said, gaining her attention. "I wasn't doing what you thought I was. At all."

I'm not blushing, dammit.

"Percy, it's – I understand. All boys begin to do it at some point and –"

"NO!" I cut her off by raising my hands. And my voice. "No, seriously, I was _not_ doing _that._ I was practicing with the Mist! Not – I wasn't masturbating!"

Okay, _now_ I'm blushing, I'll admit.

"Oh!" She seemed to slump backwards in relief. "Oh. That's good. I was, well… I don't really want to catch my son doing _that,_ you know? And, erm, just to make sure, you _do_ know what mastur –"

"Mom," I cut her off, burying my face in my hands. "I'm fourteen. I know what it entails. I've experienced the horror that was Sex Ed. Please, _stop._ "

I wonder if Hades will kill me if I ask… Ah, who am I kidding? Of course he will.

"Okay, okay. Shutting up now." My mom said, falling quiet.

I appreciated the moment of silence. It allowed me to sort out the how I felt with this whole situation.

Too bad I sucked at figuring out my own feelings. So, with a sigh of quiet suffering, I lowered my hands and imagined a flame in my mind and threw everything that dealt with the current situation right into it.

A small ball of fire blazed to life in my hands, twisting and twirling this way and that. It was the size of a softball, which was a pretty major upgrade from the first one. The gasp from the couch went ignored as I stared at the flames, allowing them to slowly dwindle out of existence the longer they went without getting a new source of fuel – namely, in this case, my emotions and feelings.

Finally, all too soon, the flames died out and left me with a pounding ache in my skull. My knees buckled slightly, but I managed to stay on my feet as I glanced over at my mom. Her face was a mask of absolute disbelief and shock, something that made me smile a little bit.

Yeah, I can't wait till I show Annabeth. She'll have a heart attack.

"Percy, how?" She said so quietly that I had to strain to hear her. "I know you can use water because of your father, but fire is – _should_ be impossible for you to use…?"

I smiled at her as I carefully moved over to the couch and flopped down onto it.

"The Mist." I said. "I told you I was practicing with it."

"But I thought the Mist was just the veil that keeps the two worlds apart?" She asked.

"Well, it is, but it's also more than that." I replied, shaking my head slightly. Ugh, my headache is getting worse. "Annabeth told me that some demigod's could use the Mist for more than tricking mortals or hiding their weapons. About how some of Hecate's children could use it like magic."

"Hecate _is_ the goddess of magic, so that does make sense." My mom cut in, looking a little thoughtful. I nodded, glancing at my hand. I'd like to try to make the flames higher, but the pounding in my head was telling me that it was a stupid idea and I was stupid for contemplating it.

"Exactly. Annabeth said it wasn't possible for me to do. But, well," I shrugged and covered my eyes. My head is _really_ starting to hurt. "I can make a fireball. It's not impossible."

I could _feel_ her nod her head in excitement.

"You can make _fire_ even though you're the son of the _sea_! That's just amazing –!" She cut herself off. "Percy, are you okay?"

I blinked at the concern in her voice and lowered my hand. I shook my head, eyes bleary and looked over at her. When the hell did the universe's framerate drop?

"Uh," I frowned. I wanted to speak with words, not grunts – but my head felt like someone was hitting it with a rock and my tongue was tied. I shook my head again, trying to center myself, but…

 _Why is the carpet so close?_

I blinked once more and watched as my mother scrambled down next to me on the floor – and when the hell did I get here? And why can't I understand a word that my mother is saying?

The world, obviously, denied me an answer and instead gave me brief moment of pain and a quick drop into unconsciousness.

And that's when things got a bit weird.

…

AN: So, a few things to note here.

First: This will cross partially with The Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase eventually. They're all a part of the same universe and share a stomping ground. That said, I should probably get around to re-reading them soon as to make sure this doesn't go _too_ far off of the rails. Some inspiration is drawn from Dresden Files as well.

Second: Using the Mist as magic isn't as far-fetched as you may believe. The explanation won't come till (much)later, but be assured that it's using canon logic – if a bit twisted, fractured and hammered into shape.

Thirdly: This was brought to life due to my muse currently being dead for my RWBY story Defiance. So, to help with that, I brainstormed this as a way to get my mind off of it.

Lastly: Also, Percy's won't have the same 'voice' as he does in the books. I'll shoot as close as I can, but I won't hit the bullseye.


	2. A Fireside Chat

AN: So, after posting the Prologue I decided to prowl through the fandom in an attempt to find something worth reading.

I was so utterly disappointed that I can now probably redefine the meaning of the word.

…

 _ **Chapter: One  
A Fireside Chat**_

Dreams, as anyone will attest to, are strange things.

Demigod dreams are _stranger_ things. They're prophetic, never tell you what you want to know, randomly happen at the oddest of times and tend to leave you utterly confused.

This _wasn't_ one of those dreams. Where there would usually be Darkness and Despair there was Light and Hope.

It was so strange that I needed a few seconds to actually understand what I was looking at.

I was standing at the entrance to the throne room up on Olympus. Each and every throne was empty, they're occupants elsewhere, but the bonfire in the middle of the room was blazing high and happily. There, sitting right next to the hearth sat a small robed figure with mousy brown hair.

I blinked and began to walk towards the only other occupant in the room. My hand was in my pocket, fingers toying with Riptide's pen form as I occasionally glanced around. I still wasn't sure if this dream was different from the norm – for all I knew, the fire could die in the next instance and finally transform the room into something that I was more familiar with.

Namely: death, destruction, doom and the end of all life as we know it.

I was strangely disappointed when nothing of the like happened. Disappointed and apprehensive. I could deal with normal demigod dreams – honestly, they didn't require you to do anything other than observe and, at a later point, suffer because of them.

And that's what made this _dangerous._ It was new. It was unsuspected. It was the unknown.

In this world – a world of gods and monsters – you fear the unknown. You fear it a lot more than the normal unknown.

"Hello Percy Jackson." A voice said from right beside me. I blinked, idly realizing that I'd walked all the way to the fire in the center of the room and that, yes, I was standing right next to the little girl. She was smiling at me.

I couldn't help but be reminded of my mother's smile when I saw it.

It made me feel warm, banishing my fears and doubts and replacing them with Happiness and Hope. The sudden change jarred me so badly that I barely managed to quietly say, "Hi." I blinked once, twice, and a third time for good measure before shaking my head and looking at her in confusion.

The young girl just smiled comfortingly at me and gestured for me to sit beside her on her marble bench.

I gladly obliged, dropping onto it and rubbing my face with my left hand. My right was still in my pocket, holding Riptide.

"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" I wondered a few moments later. I already knew the answer but, hey, it never hurts to ask, right?

"Indeed you are." The girl said, picking up a stick and prodding the fire with it. I took the moment to observe her features – the robe was actually a simple black dress, she had a scarf around her neck and her eyes were the same color as the fire that sat in the hearth.

I swear I've seen her before, I just don't know _where._

And then it clicked.

"You were the one tending to the camp's hearth on my first day there." I said. She nodded.

"Yes. You did not stop to talk. Not many do." The words were said with a sense of sadness that felt out of place in this room filled with Happiness and Hope.

"Hey, in my defense, I had _no_ idea what was going on and thought my mom was dead." I said, defending myself. "But, if you're there in the future, I'll gladly come over and talk."

I meant it, too. So far, this had been the nicest talk I'd ever had with a god – even if the 'talk' consisted of five or so sentences. And she was a god, there was no doubt about that. I could feel a sense of power radiating from her that I'd only felt a few times before.

Well, that, and we were sitting in Olympus' throne room. _Olympus_. The _City_ of the _Gods_.

Yeah.

Her eyes – which had dimmed slightly to a dark red – brightened back to the orange they were before. She sent a smile my way and I felt a warm sensation settle in my gut. No words were exchanged for a little while, we just sat there and enjoyed the warmth and the silence together.

It was during that silence that I finally worked out the identity of the girl beside me. I'd have to thank Annabeth for teaching me about the gods when I saw her again. Knowing her identity wiped away the remaining traces of suspicion and doubt that had worked their way into my brain, allowing me to relax and enjoy the moment for what it was. I released my hold my pen and ran a hand through my hair.

"I'm sorry for not recognizing you earlier, Lady Hestia." I said, turning to the goddess with a smile and a slight bow of my head. "I am – as a friend says – a little slow on the uptake."

She laughed at that – well, giggled, actually. She was currently eight or so – I didn't question it. After a moment she settled down and smiled at me. "Do you know why you are here?"

"Uh, what do you mean?" I wondered.

"Why you're here on Olympus."

I thought about that. Why _am_ I here? I mean, yeah, this conversation is pleasant, but for what reason am I here? Demigod dreams pull you out of your body to give you glimpses of things that concern you – like that dream I'd had in the Summer, the one about Grover being captured – but this one was different. Normal Demigod dreams have horrible detail: some colors are off, writing generally looks like squiggles and they're almost always really, really dark.

This… Well, it wasn't any of those. I could clearly see the lines in the stone, see the sparks flicker into the air and feel the heat radiating from the fire.

I ran my fingers through my hair and shook my head. "No clue."

She nodded her head and pointed towards the fire with her stick. "Watch," She said. I did, turning my head and looking into the flames in confusion.

I jolted in shock when I saw _myself_ in them. There I was, standing in the flames – _made_ of flames that were so hot that they were a bright white. I stood there, concentrating on a small red spark that was forming in my palms, a look of concentration on my flamey-face. "Whoa," I muttered, feeling a bit of awe at the sight. Could I manage to do that with fire at some point? Or was it something that only Hestia could do?

"What am I watching for?" I asked, not looking away from the image. From the corner of my eye I saw her shake her head silently, pointing her stick again as if to say " _Just watch._ "

So I did. It was only after the flame had jumped higher – after I'd channeled my emotions into it – that I saw what Hestia wanted me to see.

Namely, the image of her looking back at me from the little fireball. The image ended as flame-me collapsed to the ground, its body losing form and returning back to a happy orange color. I turned to look at the small goddess.

My attempt at asking "How" came out as a small squeak of confusion. I blinked once, snapped my jaw shut and shook my head.

I tried to focus – tried to puzzle out the _why,_ and the _how,_ and the _who, what, where, when,_ and _huh_ – but I only drew a blank, still staring at the Goddess in absolute confusion.

Hestia, thankfully, caught onto the fact that had stopped running and decided to help out.

"Do you remember what emotions you used to fuel the flames?" She questioned. I nodded, my brain rebooting. Happiness was one of them. Joy, pride and amusement were the others – they were the emotions I'd felt after I finally managed to conjure even a slight bit of flame. The goddess smiled at me again and a warm feeling settled in my gut. It was a smile filled with _pride._ Hestia was proud of me.

For what reason, I didn't know.

"The fire you created was close to my own, Percy." She said, pointing towards the hearth. I looked at the flames and saw… fire. I tried to see what she meant, I really did, but there was nothing _to_ see. Just fire. Fire that made me feel happy, yes, but fire nonetheless –

I smacked myself.

The flames in the hearth conveyed many of the same emotions that mine had. _That's_ what she meant. Happiness, pride, joy, and amusement all radiated from it warmly. But this fire – Hestia's fire – also radiated love, kindness, protection and hope.

I shook my head slowly in disbelief. "The first thing I did with the Mist –"

"Touched my domain, yes." Hestia cut me off.

A gods Domain was what their powers were derived from. My father's domain was the sea. Zeus's domain was the heavens.

Hestia's was the hearth.

I rubbed my face, confused about… everything, really.

"Sorry," I said. From the corner of my eye I could see Hestia tilt her head slightly.

"Whatever for?"

"For intruding on your domain?" My words came out as a question rather than a statement.

"You didn't intrude," She said, sending me another warm smile. "I'm actually quite amazed and pleased that you accomplished what you did."

I closed my eyes and thought about that. I could understand the amazement – because really, a son of the sea god using fire? Anyone who hadn't seen me do so would cry " _Bullshit!"_ in an instant.

But, being pleased…?

"Yeah," I said. "You've lost me."

She smiled another smile and my body relaxed without my permission.

"The fire that makes up the hearth hasn't been used by anyone other than myself for a long time." She explained, gazing into the fire. "Long ago, when we lived alongside the people, hearths were commonplace and my flames were often used. Now, in the modern day…" She trailed off, looking away from the fire and meeting my eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out the problem.

A gods had power due to their domain. That said, they were also empowered by the usage of said domain. My father gained more power when people interacted with the sea, just as Zeus did whenever someone flew or even so much as breathed.

But, for a goddess like Hestia whose domain was used only by herself…

"You're weaker now, aren't you?" I asked, getting straight to the heart of the matter. Hestia nodded. "How badly?"

She smiled. "Not by much. The hearths flames may not see much use, but being the goddess of the Family and the Home offsets that. Also, I _was_ the first born child of my siblings, and that does come with some perks."

"But you're still weaker than you used to be." She'd already answered the question, but I felt the need to ask it again.

She didn't bother responding, choosing instead to prod at the fire.

"Do you mind if I use them, then?" I asked, before elaborating. "The hearths flame."

She didn't look away from the fire. For a moment, I thought she hadn't heard me – but then she looked at me and I froze. The warm, caring look that had been in her eyes moments before had been replaced by a cold, calculating edge. Her stare was so unsettling that I felt like she was looking directly at my soul – hell, she might have actually been doing so.

Some part of me – the part that made horrible jokes – said " _she can't see me if I don't move_." Sadly, Hestia wasn't a dinosaur and I couldn't help but fidget in my seat.

Finally, after I'd gotten suitably uncomfortable and a long period of silence, she smiled and warmth bled back into her eyes.

"Okay." She said. "As long as they are not used for fighting."

I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat. "Thanks?"

She nodded. "You're welcome."

Okay, mental note: Hestia can be scary. On another note: why are the nice ones always the scariest?

So, ever so terrified and distinctly uncomfortable, I glanced around the room, looking for something to talk about.

"So," I blurted out accidentally, pausing as my brain clawed around for something to say. It took a moment, but I managed to find something relevant. "When do I wake up?"

She smiled knowingly at me and nodded towards the fire. Confused and slightly wary, I turned to look at it.

My eyes barely had time to widen as the flames roared out of the hearth and swallowed me whole.

…

AN: This seemed like a good place to stop it, so I kept it short. Next chapter picks up the pace and finally delves into The Titan's Curse.

Addendum: Fixed a few things in the Prologue.


	3. A Friend in Need

AN: Had to do some revisions due to the fact that I forgot how to write Percy. Well, _my_ Percy – obviously I'm not Rick and can't write Percy the same way as he can.

On a side note: We start The Titan's Curse here, so I have to change some things up to keep it interesting. There's also the fact that this is _my_ version of Percy. Things change, others stay the same.

Can't wait till I throw the story off of the rails laid by cannon, though.

Addendum: Short chapters make naming them hard sometimes.

…

 _ **Chapter: Two  
A Friend in Need**_

I woke up to three women arguing.

Needless to say, the urge to drop back into unconsciousness immediately was _very_ appealing. That wasn't about to happen, sadly enough – they were so loud that the whole building could probably hear them.

"I'm sorry, Miss Jackson, but it just _isn't_ possible for him to have conjured fire. Ignoring the fact that Percy's father is Poseidon, no one other than Hecate's children have been able to use magic for a long, _long_ time."

"Annabeth is right, Miss Jackson. It's just flat out impossible for him to –"

I opened my eyes and let out a sigh, easily blocking out the arguing coming from the kitchen. Living with Gabe _had_ taught me a few things.

Getting off of the couch was a bit of a chore – my legs weren't really functioning correctly and I didn't quite know what depth perception was. There was also a faint pounding behind my eyes, like like someone was beating away at my brain with a hammer.

It took a few moments to get my bearings and make my way towards the kitchen.

I walked over with the grace and poise of a trained warrior – okay, I'm lying: I was actually doing my best imitation of a shambling corpse, legs limp and trembling as I stumbled my way to the kitchen.

I was close to the door when I tripped over my own feet and fell to the floor. The voices went quiet and I groaned with my face full of carpet.

As I lay there, not even trying to get up, I wondered if I could get a photo of myself put in the dictionary next to the word 'pathetic'. That would be a good way to teach people.

" _Now class,"_ A teacher would say. _"Never,_ _ **ever**_ _be pathetic. If you are, you'll end up like this young man here – and you don't want that, do you?_ " There would then be a great deal of " _No sirs",_ some _"I hope nots"_ and even some cursing from the back of the class –

The thought trailed off and I started to wonder if I'd hit my head when I fell earlier.

Then the kitchen door opened and _did_ hit my head.

"Ow," I mumbled, not really meaning it. The inside of my head hurt more than the outside of it, sadly enough.

Suddenly, a pair of hands were under my arms and hauling me to my feet. "Really Sea-Salt? You fell down?"

I opened my mouth to tell Thalia _just_ how horrible that nick-name was but only managed to hack up carpet fuzz that had gotten stuck to my teeth and tongue. She just rolled her eyes and supported my weight all the way back to the couch.

All of that effort to get to the kitchen and what happens? I'm lead right back to where I began.

Dammit.

Thalia dropped me onto the couch as gently as could be expected – which meant that it wasn't gentle at all. My tailbone bounced off of the springs beneath the cushion and I grimaced slightly. From the kitchen my mother and Annabeth walked out, concern practically radiating off of them.

"So," Thalia said, looking down at me. "What's this about you creating fire?"

I allowed myself a moment to rub my head. "Mist manipulation." I muttered, just loud enough to be heard. "It's currently why I feel so horrible." She cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips. It would have been cute – _should_ have been cute – but her eyes were glowing slightly as she stared down at me and the word 'cute' was replaced with 'scary'.

"Show me."

I didn't want to – as in, _really_ didn't want to. I felt like it would just make my headache worse.

But, as always, I didn't let that stop me. I lowered one hand, cupping it in front of myself and imagined the flame. It came easier this time – even if it was still a pain to create, it was easier. It took a moment, but a small bit of flame lit up on my hand. It was tiny, like the flame of a candle, but it was there and that's all that mattered.

And then the flame blinked out and my head felt like someone had smacked it with a hammer.

"Tylenol," I groaned out, cradling my aching skull with one hand and covering my eyes with the other. There was some shuffling, some noises of shock and even a few curses as they did… whatever. I was too busy hurting to care all that much.

"Here, Percy." Someone said a minute later as they pried my hand from my eyes. I blinked at the sudden brightness – by the gods, why was everything so _bright?_

Someone dumped something into my hand and – somehow – I managed to get it into my mouth instead of my eyes and swallowed it without any water.

I blinked at the taste of chocolate chip cookies. Near instantly my head stopped aching and the brightness was toned down to acceptable levels. Annabeth was kneeling in front of me, giving me a small smile.

"Ambrosia?" I asked.

"Yup," She nodded. "Figured it would work a bit better. Besides," Her smile dropped and she glared at me. "How did you do that?!"

I figured that saying the words " _I wanted to make fire, focused on making fire and successfully made fire"_ wouldn't go over very well and settled on shrugging. Instantly the glare she was giving me doubled in intensity and I threw up my hands in surrender.

"Give me a little while to come up with a good explanation?" I asked, ignoring the snickers coming from Thalia. Annabeth kept up the glare for a few moments longer.

"Fine," She agreed, nodding her head. "But you better think of something good or I'll gut you, got it?"

I nodded hard enough that it hurt before deciding to change the subject.

"So. Why are you two here?"

And just like that, the atmosphere of the room shifted. Annabeth's features locked up and, behind her, Thalia cursed. My mom, standing at the side and looking over us all like the happy parent she usually is, cleared her throat and looked uncomfortable.

"Percy, you should go get changed." She said, biting her lip. I glanced between them for a moment – Annabeth's featured were suspiciously blank, Thalia looked concerned and my mom… well, she looked like she usually did when something dangerous was potentially about to happen.

Something was seriously wrong, then.

I nodded, standing up quickly and moving towards the hallway. I stopped at the doorframe, though, and turned to lock eyes with Annabeth. We had a quick conversation with our eyes – something we'd picked up at some point.

I blamed all the near-death experiences. Finally, after a few seconds, she relented.

"Grover sent out a distress call. You'll probably want to pack an overnight bag." I didn't say anything and walked to my room to pack.

…

The ride to Bar Harbor, Maine was long, boring and filled with Annabeth pestering me about the Mist. My mother, who likes to talk when she was nervous, wouldn't stop telling the girls about all the embarrassing things I did as a kid.

The radio insulted Thalia at some point because she started cursing "mainstream music" and had pulled a CD case from her jacket pocket. I didn't know what band Coheed and Cambodia was, or why their CD was called Good Apple, I'm Burning Stairs IV⁺, but it wasn't that bad.

For my part, the ride only bothered me because it took so long. Sure, I was anxious – my best friend had apparently run into something that he needed help with. But, at the same time, I was pretty relaxed. When everyone finally settled down and sat back for the ride, I came up with more uses for the Mist – for Magic.

There was a lot. Creating fire was more of a proof of concept than anything – a test to see if I actually _could._ Now, knowing that it was possible – and knowing that it was due to the Mist – there was suddenly a lot more that could be done.

I should probably read through those Dresden Files books my mother owns. And re-read Harry Potter. And maybe pick up a few more fiction books.

I wasn't above using other people's ideas – though, I did have something I wanted to learn first.

Some of the weapons and armor at camp were enchanted – to never dull, never break and the like. Then there was Riptide, my ballpoint pen that turned into a three foot long sword when I flicked the cap off.

So, that in mind, it was at the top of my list of things to learn – clothes as that were as strong as steel and could take a sword slash would go a long way towards increasing my life expectancy.

And, as I climbed out of the car and looked up towards the black walls of Westover hall, I felt like my life expectancy was dropping by the minute. Behind me Annabeth, Thalia and my mom also got out.

"You've got everything?" My mom asked as we pulled our bags from the trunk.

"Yeah," I said, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

"Spare clothes? Ambrosia and Nectar?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, mom."

"Cellphone? You remember my number?"

I nodded.

"Greek Fire?"

"You brought Greek Fire?" Annabeth demanded, turning to glare incredulously at me.

"Hey, no one said I _couldn't_ bring Greek Fire." I said, defending myself. Thalia snorted and put a hand on Annabeth's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. Who knows? Maybe it'll come in handy." She removed her hand and made her way towards the castle doors. "See ya Miss J." Annabeth just shook her head, waved at my mom and followed Thalia.

I smiled and moved over to my mom to give her a hug.

"Be safe on the drive back." I said when I finally let go.

"I should be the one telling _you_ to be safe." She said and reached out to tussle my hair. She smiled at me – a smile that was filled with concern and love. In that moment, I couldn't help but compare that smile to Hestia's.

In my own, unbiased opinion, my mother had a better smile.

"Whatever this monster is," She said. "Make sure it doesn't have the chance to hurt anyone, alright?"

I smiled back at her. "Alright," I said, nudging her towards the car. She rolled her eyes and got in, quickly rolling down the window.

"I love you, honey." She said.

"Love you too."

A few moments later I joined the girls near the large wooden double doors and watched my mother drive away.

"Your mom is cool, Percy." Thalia said, smiling. I nodded, smiling as well.

"Yeah, she is. How about yours?"

I knew instantly that I'd messed up. The smile on her face was wiped away and was replaced with a glare – a glare that was so full of heat that it could've boiled the ocean.

"Percy –" She began, nostrils flaring angrily, but I made sure to raise a hand and cut her off before she could get any further.

"Sorry," I said. "I forgot that most demigods have problems with their families. Forget I asked." She continued to glare at me for a moment longer before nodding and looking away.

"Come on, guys," Annabeth said from off to the side, not even paying attention to Thalia and I. "Grover will be waiting."

I stared up at the dark towers as we walked towards the doors.

Stay out here in the cold and snow or go inside where there's warmth and monsters?

That was an easy choice.

…

We entered the entry hall amidst a storm of snow.

"Jeez," Thalia muttered. I agreed with her. The hall was huge and filled to the brim with weaponry – antique rifles, battle axes, a few cavalry swords and even a cannon were on display. Someone had decided that overkill was the way to go when it came to decorations.

My hand dropped into my pocket and I began to fiddle with Riptide. Something was wrong here – I could feel the Mist moving erratically. Thalia was rubbing her silver bracelet and Annabeth's hand was next to where she had her knife concealed.

I whirled around as the doors shut.

"Alright then," I muttered, staring at the oak doors. "Guess we're staying."

Thalia stored her duffle behind a pillar while Annabeth and I – deciding we could get away with it, due to being in a school – kept our backpacks on. There was music coming from the other end of the hall, so we decided to start heading in that direction.

We'd walked maybe a fourth of the way there before we were interrupted.

From a doorway that was concealed in the shadows two figures walked out – a man and a… manly woman.

Seriously, she had a moustache.

Both had the same short grey hair and black with red trim military-styled uniforms. They walked stiffly, shoulders straight and with measured steps like they were marching.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The woman demanded, voice scathing. I concealed the grimace that came to my lips by turning it into a smile.

The man most certainly noticed, because he scowled at me. We really should have planned for something like this.

"We were invited to the dance." I said, continuing to smile.

"Visitors are not allowed." The man sneered at me, his heterochromia eyes as cold as the snow outside. "So you shall have to leave."

He had a French accent – as in, stereotypically French accent. The kind that someone uses to act French with.

Needless to say, it annoyed the hell out of me.

"Sir," I began, forcing my features into a look of despair. "We've been looking forwards to this dance for _weeks_. And, uh, our ride has kind of already left."

His eyes narrowed dangerously and his hand drifted towards his side. I chanced a glance towards where his hand was going and – _holy shit he has a gun_.

There, strapped to his thigh was a pistol in a sleek black holster. I gulped and prepared myself to uncap Riptide – maybe I could block the bullet? – but luckily the man didn't grab the weapon.

Instead his hand went into his pocket and he pulled out a phone. He shot us a glance – one full of distrust and anger – before he turned to the woman.

"Watch them while I call the principle." He said, walking a few steps away and raising the phone to his ear. I traded a glance with Thalia and Annabeth, both of whom gave me looks of surprise.

A minute passed – a minute where Thalia, Annabeth and I were introduced to the woman, Ms. Gottschalk and scolded for not notifying the school that we would be coming.

I didn't pay attention to any of it, still trying to keep myself from laughing at her name. Finally, after another minute had gone by, the man ended his call and walked back over to us.

"You are allowed to go to the dance." He said, staring down at us like we were unruly school children. "Afterwards, you will meet with me back here and I shall escort you to your lodgings for the night due to the blizzard. You may call your parents once there to secure a ride home. If you cannot get ahold of anyone, we will have a car take you back at noon tomorrow. Is that understood, or would you like to call your parents now?"

I looked to the girls and nodded my head. "We understand, sir. And we'd like to stay."

"Good." He said, looking over us. "I am Dr. Thorn. Have fun at the dance." We nodded and began our trek down the hall towards where the music came from.

I tried to ignore the way that Dr. Thorn's eyes burrowed into my back the entire way. And how the Mist moved erratically when around the man.

"Thorn's the monster." I said once we were far enough away.

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed.

"Uh-huh," Thalia chimed in.

I sighed. We'd barely even entered the building and already we've run into the enemy – and enemy that _didn't_ try to kill us immediately. In my experience, those were the _worst_ kinds of enemies.

Thalia summed up the entire situation with a single word.

"Shit."

Then Grover burst out of the doors ahead of us and bleated in joy.

…

AN: I thought about continuing it there, but decided to keep it short. As it stands, I'll probably keep _all_ the chapters on the short-side.

The part where Thorn called the principle instead of, you know, _eee-jecting!_ Percy and company is because, well, there's a blizzard happening outside. Common sense and such… Well, that and Thorn's not going to be the same as he was in the book.

I like changing things.

⁺ The band "Coheed and Cambria" released their album "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From fear Through the Eyes of Madness" back in 2005. Percy, suffering from dyslexia, butchers it. On a side note – it's a damned good band and I can see Thalia listening to it. Probably.


	4. A Dance of Demigods

AN: So. It's 2017 – which means that we're all going to think it's 2016 for the next three months. Joy. Also, sorry about the lateness. My internet was out for a while. And then my PC's motherboard offed itself. So, I just plain haven't had a computer for about… three weeks or so. Since I have a three year warranty, I've sent it to the manufacturer and am waiting for its return.

I had to tinker around to get my old hardware working again and… well, it's slow. _Very_ slow. I can barely keep Chrome open.

I miss being able to play games on Ultra settings with Chrome open on another monitor. I miss it _a lot._

…  
 _ **Chapter: Three**_  
 _ **A Dance of Demigods**_

"You made it!" Grover said happily, lunging forwards and attempting to drag us into a group hug. I took a step back, putting me out of the range of his arms and watched as the two girls were drug into his grasp.

The scathing glare that Thalia shot me made could have lit the ocean on fire. I just smiled at her and shook my head, all the while laughing on the inside.

"Jerk," Grover said after the hug finished, grinning my way. I just grinned back and threw an arm around his shoulder.

It was nice to see him, seeing as the last time I'd managed to talk to him was the end of the summer. He'd grown a little taller during that time and had grown a bit of a beard. Like, _beard_ beard. Not a bit of patchy facial hair, but a full blown mass of hair attached to his jawline and chin.

It made me question how he was able to convince anyone that he was fourteen years old.

"So," Thalia asked after we'd finished our bro-hug. "The emergency?"

Grover nodded, suddenly looking serious. "I found two half-bloods."

I tried to keep my reaction to just a twitch, but I'm pretty sure my entire body jerked backwards at his words. I glanced towards Thalia and Annabeth, who both looked as shocked as I was. Finding _one_ demigod was rare; there wasn't many of us out there who'd survived long enough. But _two?_

It was shocking, to say the least.

The Satyr's had been on overtime this year, searching the country for more demigods. From fourth grade to high school, Satyr's were on the lookout for any half-blood they could find.

I didn't like it – the idea of recruiting children to fight in a war that they never knew about _disgusted_ me – but it needed to be done. Hell, it was _safer_ to drag them into it because we could get them trained and prepared. Leaving them unaware of who they were, ignorant about the world of gods and monsters…

Well, it was better to fight and die rather than the alternative.

"They're siblings," Grover continued explaining. "A brother and sister. Ten and twelve – and _strong,"_ He stressed the word, glancing between Thalia and I. "Like you two are, but I don't know their parentage. I need help."

"Any monsters other than Thorn back there?" I asked, throwing that bit about them being strong onto the backburner to simmer. It wasn't worth worrying about right now.

"You know that Dr. Thorn is the monster?" Grover asked, looking surprised.

I nodded. "It was kind of simple to figure out, really. I could practically feel it." And now that I thought about it, I _could_ feel it. Thorn felt like… like a cancer. A blight upon the world. A terminal disease that wouldn't go away and slowly destroyed life.

And we'd probably have to fight him. That's… Alright, whatever. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Or burn it when we get to it.

… Whichever works best.

"Uh, no." Grover said. I shoved the thought into the back of my mind and re-focused on him. "Thorn's the only monster. I'm not sure if he knows that they're demigods, but he _definitely_ suspects – he keeps blocking me whenever I try to get close to them. This is the last day of the term, and he… he probably won't let them leave without figuring it out. I don't know what to do."

The pleading look that Grover gave Thalia left a bad feeling in my mouth. Thalia had seniority here, yeah, but…

Grover was my friend. My _best_ friend. It hurt to have him look to someone else for help.

"They're at the dance?" Annabeth piped in, looking at the gymnasium doors warily. I gave it a wary glance of my own, but that was mostly due to my overwhelming dislike of techno music.

"It's mandatory. So, yeah." Grover said.

"Then let's dance." Thalia said, turning and pushing the doors open. In an instant the music got louder. Before it had been kinda loud, but _now?_ We'd have to shout to be heard over it.

I let out a sigh of regret and followed them into the room. I looked around, observing the kids for a moment. Most of the girls were dressed about as well as one would expect – which is, to say, barely dressed at all. They moved around like a pack, huddled up and going everywhere together. The guys were almost all acting like idiots, trying to smack each other with the balloons lying about or tying up their friends with the streamers hanging from the walls.

A few of the older students, guys and girls alike were awkwardly hanging around the edges and seemed to be attempting to blend into the background. I watched one guy try to flee from a group of approaching girls.

I also watched him fail utterly as the girls piled on him like piranhas.

"It's like a normal school dance, but worse." I said to Thalia once I caught up. She nodded her head in agreement. Beside us, Grover pointed towards a set of bleachers and the two kids that sat there arguing.

"There," He said. "Bianca and Nico Di Angelo."

It didn't take more than a glance to figure out that they were siblings. The same silky black hair and olive skin, the same facial structure and the same sharp edges to their features. They used hand gestures quite a bit as they talked and the boy, Nico, was messing around with a pile of cards in his hands that looked a bit familiar for some reason. His sister looked to be scolding him over something and continuously looked around, like she sensed something wrong.

"Have you told them yet?" Annabeth asked, looking at Grover.

He shook his head. "That could put them in more danger. Knowing you're a demigod empowers your scent."

"Great," I said. "We're going to have to convince them that they're demigods. Fantastic." I started forwards, but stopped as Thalia put a hand on my shoulder.

"Look," She said, gesturing towards the bottom of the bleachers near the siblings. Dr. Thorn stood there, having obviously snuck in at some point. He nodded towards us, face blank and eyes as frigid as ice.

"Don't look at the kids. We need to pretend we're not interested in them." She ordered.

I just shook my head and started forwards again, knocking Thalia's hand from my shoulder. I barely had time to hear her curse before she had my arm in a vice grip and was spinning me around.

"What are you doing?!" She hissed at me, face inches from my own and eyes alit with lighting. She was pissed.

I, on the other hand, was annoyed. "That's stupid," I said. Her jaw clenched as her eyes tried to pierce through my soul. "The chance of Thorn _not_ knowing that we're demigods is slim. If we ignore the kids, he'll just take the opportunity to snatch them."

"What if he attacks you?" She pressed.

"I'll fight back. What are you getting at?"

She sighed and let go of my arm. "What about the students that might be in danger? Did you even think about them?"

… Oh. Now I understand what she's getting at.

To be honest, I had thought about it. Just… Not a lot. I was banking on the fact that the kids would do what any and all humans would in such a situation – get out of dodge as fast as conceivably possible. Because, you know, people have a fight or flight instinct that usually jumps past 'fight' and 'flight' and lands on 'Run, Forrest, run!'.

People were pretty good at running away, now that I think of it. And that's if Thorn even decided to fight – and I don't think he's the type to jump the gun. He seemed more like the type that let his enemy wander into a trap.

I huffed out a breath and nodded. "Plan something then. All I know is that leaving the kids alone is a recipe for disaster."

So, with that said, I made my way to the Di Angelo siblings and left my friends behind. Thorn's eyes seemed to frost over a bit more when I tossed him a wave, but he didn't stop me from walking up the bleachers.

Bianca was the one who caught sight of me first. She froze mid-sentence, looking at me in confusion. The boy, Nico, glanced up when she'd stopped talking and also looked at me.

"Hi there," I waved at them. "You like Mythomagic?"

I'll admit, I didn't know much about the game. Everyone who was a nerd knew about it, though, so the few friends I had in school obviously played.

I just never listened when they started to rant about it.

"You play?!" I swear, the kid lit up brighter than the sun.

"Uh, no." I said, and his face fell. "But I know a bit about it and you looked like you could do without a nagging sister." I smiled at the girl, letting her know that I didn't mean anything by it. She gave me a knowing smile in return.

I didn't know what that was about – I doubted that she knew I was here to keep them from being eaten by the monster three steps below us – but whatever.

Nico, who'd brightened back up, happily shoved a hand into my own and drug me down onto the bench beside him. "Great!" He said. "I'm Nico. Nico Di Angelo. And she's Bianca. Who are you?"

Bianca shot a glare at the excitable ball of energetic demigod that was her brother and seemed to give up.

"Hello," She sighed out, waving at me slightly. I shot her another smile – because, jeez, I'd known this kid all of ten seconds and he was already testing my patience. Bianca had to be a saint or something.

"Percy Jackson," I said. "Nice to meet you. Now, card game?"

"Right!" Nico replied, shuffling a few cards about. "How much do you know about it?"

I scratched my head and tried to dredge up whatever memories I had of the game. "It's something like the Pokémon card game, right?"

The confused look that he had on his face made me question myself. "What's Pokémon?" He asked.

My jaw dropped. "You don't know what Pokémon is?"

"Uh, no? What is it?" He asked, and even Bianca looked confused.

They didn't know what Pokémon was. Nearly every kid knew about Pokémon – Hell, even _Thalia_ knew about Pokémon and she was a tree for five years. What sort of kid _didn't_ know what Pokémon was?

"Okay… So you don't know what Pokémon is. Wow. That's… kind of sad, actually." It wasn't an accusation or anything; just good ol' pity that filled my voice. Because seriously, I pitied anyone that didn't know about Pokémon.

"Hey, it's not our fault we were so sheltered." Bianca argued feebly. Beside her, Nico nodded, a frown etched on his features. They were right, obviously. The fault most likely lied in their parents – the godly one _and_ the mortal one.

I blamed their godly parent more, though. Gods are just easier to blame.

"No worries." I said, brushing the topic away and turning to Nico. "Do you know what Yu-Gi-Oh is?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Magic: The Gathering?"

"Nope."

"The World of Warcraft card game that came out last year?"

"What's World of Warcraft?"

… There was a problem here.

I paused for a second. "Do you know _any_ card game other than Mythomagic?" I asked. To be honest, I didn't hold much hope.

"Uh," He scratched his neck. "I know how to play Euchre?"

I let out a sigh and palmed my face. That wasn't what I asked. Hell, _I_ don't know how to play Euchre. I could hardly remember what Euchre was.

If it's anything like Poker, I'm probably bad at it.

I turned to look over the dancefloor, trying to find my friends. It took a few moments, but I finally spotted them in a small huddle of to the side. They each had their heads bowed and were whispering to each other, probably planning… something.

Eh. I don't really do plans, so it's not like I cared to find out. A quick glance to the side showed that Thorn was still in the same spot, though he was beginning to look more and more agitated as time went by.

I turned back to the siblings. "I find your lack of knowledge disturbing."

Bianca frowned at me. "What?"

"Oh come on," My shoulders slouched. "You don't even understand a Star Wars reference?"

She shrugged. "Sorry," She said, actually looking sorry. "Sheltered, remember?" Nico, for his part, looked like he'd found the coolest thing ever and had been told that he couldn't have it.

I felt bad – partially because I'd brought up a topic that had ended up making them feel bad, but mostly because I'd just come to the realization that I was a nerd.

Protecting and befriending the little guys all these years sure has cost me.

I was about to say something – probably a comment on how utterly depressing everything had suddenly became – when the Mist in the air began to fluctuate. I frowned as it flowed towards the gymnasiums' door and began to seep through and into the hallway beyond. I turned to Thorn, to check and see if he was the cause of the Mist's erratic movement.

I was stopped, however, as the doors were opened by a girl with silver parka and jeans. Her skin was copper colored and her dark hair had a silver circlet braided into it. The Mist around her all pointed towards one thing, however – she wasn't mortal.

Suddenly, from where Thorn was, The Mist _screamed._

My head snapped towards the monster and I barely managed to raise an arm and block the dagger shaped object before it pierced my chest. I didn't, however, manage to stop myself from crying out as it tore through the muscle and tissue in my forearm and scraped a bone or two along the way. I toppled off of my seat and practically dropped into Nico and Bianca's laps, both of them looking down at me in surprise and horror.

And then everyone started screaming. Fantastic.

…

AN: The more things change… Well. The more they change, apparently. Like the fight that's about to happen in the middle of a gymnasium full of mortal children. Chapter may read a bit differently compared to others, but it's been a month and I have to get back into Percy Mode.

The next chapter is in the works. It'll take a bit because fight scenes are always something I'm a bit unsure of, but it shouldn't take as long as this one did.


	5. A Gymnasium Brawl

AN: This story received a pretty good following at some point that I didn't realize. It's kind of amazing, to be honest.

So, thanks for reading, everyone.

In other news, this chapter was a bit delayed due to more PC issues and a power outage. There is some good news, though – my motherboard is on its way back from MSI and is set to be here by Monday. If they got it running, I should be back to writing more often.

Addendum: Chapter three's title has been updated to _**A Dance of Demigods**_.

…  
 _ **Chapter: Four  
A Gymnasium Brawl**_

I barely managed to lift myself up and catch sight of Thorn – or, you know, the newly walking monstrosity that was formerly some guy with a shitty French accent who was named Thorn. The good doctor was now a walking dude-lion with a bit of scorpion mixed somewhere in his gene pool. His head had become grotesque – his mouth capable of opening far, _far_ more than previously and was filled with sharp, serrated teeth.

In other words, he was scary. Everyone realized this.

The students were an odd bunch of people who were screaming, pointing, crying and fleeing. Hell, some managed to do all of that at the same time, running for the doors scattered around the gymnasium that would lead them to anywhere but here. A few were standing still, either frozen with fear or indecision.

"Percy, are you okay?" I glanced up at the voice and caught sight of Bianca. Her eyes were wide and she was breathing quickly – probably shock, I figured. She was looking down at me, worry present on her features. Beside her, though…

"So cool!" Nico whispered excitedly, staring at the monster. "A manticore!"

Huh. The kid who doesn't know he's a demigod knows more about the monster that I want to stab than I do.

I wanted to call bullshit – because, hey, I'm the informed demigod in this situation and he wasn't – but instead I ignored it and focused on my arm. The thing lodged in it wasn't small enough to be a dagger and, honestly, it looked more like a railroad spike, length and all.

I wasn't all that surprised that it had managed to pierce all the way through. There'd just be two holes in my arm rather than one when I pulled it out. That's fine.

"Hey, Bianca?" I asked, prodding the spike and grimacing at the wave of pain that slammed into me. I lied – this isn't fine. "Open my bag and grab the little bag of golden cubes, please."

"I – yeah. Yeah, sure." She said. I felt her open the pouch through my back. "Why do you need – oh my god!"

You know, thinking about it, ripping the spike from my arm probably _wasn't_ the best idea. I mean, sure, it would allow me to take some Ambrosia to heal faster, but… Well, maybe I should have gotten someone else to do it. I probably should have bit down on something, too – I don't think anyone appreciated my spiel of curses and half garbled screams.

I turned towards Bianca and fumbled the bag out of her grasp, making sure to not look anywhere near the open wound. It was pretty easy to do, really. She was so busy staring at my arm in horror that her grasp had weakened considerably. I mean, a hole in someone's arm that's about an inch and a half wide and is leaking blood all over the place?

It's kind of nauseating.

Out on the dance floor Annabeth and Grover were busy moving kids out of the gym while Thalia and the girl with the tiara were trying their hardest to keep Thorn away from them. Thalia had her spear and shield – a terrifying thing with Medusa's face on it called Aegis – in hand and was doing her best to tank Thorn's blows. Tiara Girl was behind her going shot for shot against Thorn with a bow that she pulled from… somewhere. Each of her arrows would be intercepted by one of Thorn's spikes and I could see that she was becoming frustrated.

Finally managing to open the bag with my one good arm, I shoved a cube or three of Ambrosia into my mouth and groaned in relief as the taste of my mother's chocolate chip cookies invaded my very being. For a moment it felt like I was on fire – a clear sign that I took a _bit_ too much Ambrosia. The blood leaking from my arm boiled slightly and the hole began to steam as the Ambrosia went to work on repairing it. It was disturbing to look at, but I couldn't turn away as the wound hissed shut and the skin bubbled like the fizz in a bottle of Coke.

"That… was _sooo cooool._ " I turned and saw Nico staring at my arm, awe plastered on his face.

" _Cool?_ That was disgusting!" Bianca stated, turning away and looking a bit green. I could emphasize – the first time I'd been healed like this after a capture the flag match _was_ pretty horrifying. Now, though?

Well… You just kind of get used to it, really.

That doesn't stop it from being disturbing, though.

I stood and twisted my arm, checking to see if there was any discomfort – there wasn't. My arm was back in proper working condition. I grinned.

And then I jumped – and Nico and Bianca shouted as the bleachers beneath me shattered and broke apart and I launched fifteen feet into the air.

Demigods, as I'd learned over the years, were strange beings. We had super strength – but at the same time, we didn't. We had a vastly superior mind when compared to regular mortals – but, again, we usually weren't smarter than the Average Joe, Athena kids notwithstanding.

Most half-blood's couldn't run faster than a track athlete, nor could they easily beat someone in a contest of intellect. There was a few notable exceptions – Ares kids for the physical side, Athena for the mental and the like.

I'd asked Chiron once – asked him why, as beings that were half _god,_ most of the campers couldn't do things that were, you know, _godly_ – and learned that the answer wasn't really simple – except that it was.

See, the thing is, most demigods don't really think of themselves as… well, as _demigods_. Most of us were raised by our mortal parents and, because of that, we tend to think of ourselves as more mortal than god. Even when we know that, logically, we're this weird abomination of a deity and a puny mortal we tend to think of ourselves as regular people with a dash of _god_ added into the gene pool.

And that's where the problem lied. If you think like that, you think that you're a mortal with a few added benefits. And, because you think like that… Well, oddly enough, you wind up like that. As some regular shmuck that maybe has a liking of plants or is really dexterous because, hey, your divine parent is a goddess of flora or is the god of carnies or something or other.

The moment that you actually think of yourself as a demigod – actually _believed_ that you were half mortal and half divine – you could start doing some things that were actually superhuman.

And then there is the easy route where you just eat some divine food since it burns away the mortal half of you and replaces it with _god_. No existential crisis needed for that one, just some Ambrosia or Nectar.

Riptide exploded into form when I hit the floor, enlarging and taking shape in an instant. I dropped into a roll and came up sprinting, blade held tight. Thorn wasn't looking in my direction – he was too focused on Thalia and the girl with the bow. They were holding their ground near the opposite side of the gym and were protecting the students that had yet to flee. Grover was by the doors, practically throwing people out of them and Annabeth was… nowhere to be seen, actually. She must have gone invisible.

None of that mattered to me, though – what mattered was the fact that Thorn had his back to me.

More importantly, however, it meant that he didn't sense me when I ducked behind him and sliced through his tail with my sword.

Riptide passed through the scorpion-like tail like – well, like you would expect, really. It tore through the flesh and sinew with ease, passing straight through and out the other side in a single stroke. Thorn screamed in agony and blindly swiped at me with the bit that was still attached, blood flying everywhere as he did so. I moved out of the way of both of them – you never knew when a monster has acidic blood or something.

The manticore roared, turning _far_ faster than I thought he was capable off. His form seemed to _blur_ for a split second and even with the slight empowerment I'd received from the Ambrosia, I barely managed to raise my blade and deflect his claws. I relented when he swiped at me with his other arm, barely dodging the paw that wished to take my head off.

I rolled away from him as he slammed an orange, razor tipped paw down where I was standing and remembered the fact that I owned a shield. I hit my watch in time to catch another strike on my expanding shield and wondered where the sudden speed boost he'd gotten came from. Empowered as I was – and being _who_ I was, the son of Poseidon, one of the three strongest gods – I could barely keep up.

I skipped backwards to dodge another swipe and – in retaliation – swung my blade and managed to catch Thorn with the tip, cutting a long, shallow cut down his furry arm.

He growled at me – and then a bright blue lightning bolt slammed into his back and he stumbled forwards, screaming in pain. I took the opportunity to thrust my sword towards his horrifyingly human-like face.

Luckily – for him, not me – he caught Riptide between his serrated teeth and snarled at me, his eyes glowing with unrestrained malice and anger. This close to him, the Mist that surrounded Thorn was almost suffocating in its weight – like the evil that radiated from the monster was trying to use it to choke the life out of me.

Hell, it might've been for all I knew. I tried to pull my blade back out, but it was stuck fast and I had to abandon it until it returned to my pocket as one of his paws lanced at me, claws sinking into the floorboard as I leapt away. Something came flying at me from my peripherals and I barely managed to raise my shield in time to block it and the several more objects that followed.

"Oh, come on." I sighed after I lowered my shield. "He has regeneration. Of course he does."

Waving through the air behind Thorn – and, subsequently keeping Thalia and my friends away from me – was Thorns newly regrown tail. I didn't know if it was something that came standard for manticore's or if Thorn was just Special; capital S and all. He would launch a hail of spikes that Thalia would block with her shield or the other girl would shoot down. When he wasn't launching spikes his tail was whipping around in a blur that kept them from advancing and allowed him to focus solely on me.

Grover was in the back, hiding behind a small pile of chairs. Indoors he wasn't really much help – there wasn't any nature for him to call on and he didn't really use anything else to fight with. Annabeth was still roaming around invisible, so I crossed her off of my list of things to worry about. She could take care of herself.

My inattention almost cost me as I jerked my head to the side to avoid the sharp razorblades that were Thorn's claws from piercing my head. I wasn't lucky enough to dodge it all, however, as his paw clipped me and knocked my head spinning.

The world went dark for a moment. And then it went orange as Thorn leapt for me, maw open and prepared to devour me whole. I tried to leap to the side, but my ability to tell directions was apparently about as confused as I was because I ended up leaping directly towards Thorn's _face._

 _Oh, what large teeth you have._ Thorn's eyes glowed brightly – probably in happiness because, hey, a free meal was leaping straight for his gullet here – and I raised my shield. Maybe I could sacrifice my arm and my shield to save the rest of me?

A small hope, yeah, but my mom always told me to have hope.

I felt Riptide return to my pocket but, sadly, I didn't have the time to fish it out of my pocket again before I became a snack. " _Hi,"_ I thought, sending a prayer towards whoever would listen. " _I'd like to not die. Thanks."_ I'll admit, I wasn't really expecting much. Gods are almost always dicks and don't really care for the little guys.

So imagine my surprise when a silver arrow ripped through the air and made Thorn reel back or get shot in the side of the head. My head snapped to the side towards where the arrow came from and found nothing but wall.

 _How the hell–?_ There was no one there – no one to shoot the arrow. A snarl brought me back into the fight and I barely managed to move enough to avoid being skewered.

I didn't manage to fully dodge, though, because Thorn's arm caught me by the neck and threw me across the room.

The world went dark again - and then it went sideways. And then upside down before it went sideways _again_ as I went head over heels through the air. Finally – after eight or nine flips – I slammed into the ground and bounced my way to a stop.

I tried to blink away the black spots in my vision – as well as the concussion that I'd probably just gotten – and only managed to moan pitifully. My ears were ringing, my nose smelt something like smoke mixed with moldy cheese and I swore that I could taste Alabama. I didn't have the energy to move my head – or the anything else, for that matter. Everything below my neck was just… kind of numb, to be honest. I could still _feel,_ yeah, but I was mostly numb. Since I couldn't move I decided to lie there, just staring at the ceiling and wondering why my life was such a mess.

A few moments later – or minutes, maybe, I don't know – something touched my head and tilted it to the side.

"Percy, you okay?" Annabeth asked, her form coalescing from nothingness as she took her hat off. I could hardly see her past all of the dots in my vision, but I could see that she was worrying her lip with her teeth as she gingerly moved my head this way and that.

"Yupp," I rasped out, wincing as my neck screamed in agony. "N'ver bwen bwetter."

The lisp told me that'd I'd managed to bite my tongue as well. Annabeth sighed, shrugged off her pack and began to root through it. I lay there in pain, hoping that she didn't pull out any Ambrosia or Nectar. I didn't know how much more I'd be able to take before it snuffed the rest of the Mortal out of me and left me as with just the God part – without, you know, the 'ascending to a higher being' part. That was instead replaced with 'dying in agony as you spontaneously combust because, hey, godhood doesn't work like that.'

A few moments later Annabeth pulled out a bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, and dumped it all on my face. I shot up with a gasp, the pain in my neck and tongue fizzling away to manageable levels. A haze that I hadn't noticed left my mind and let me think straight as energy coursed through my system. My limbs – and, hell, _everything_ below my neck suddenly started feeling like pins and needles were being pushed into them. The numbness that kept me on the ground was replaced with pain and moving body parts.

"Holy fuck." I said and shook my head. "I didn't know I could do that."

And I didn't. I knew that water healed me – hell, I'd known since my first match of capture the flag at Camp Half-Blood when a cut had healed easily – but I didn't know that it could do _that_ much. Hell, the numbness signified _nerve damage_ for gods sake. And water healed that.

… Wow, that's broken.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes. "You good now?"

I shook my head. "Hand me another." She nodded, grabbing another water bottle and poured it all on my head. Most of the pain receded after that, leaving me with a few aches that were easily ignored.

The sound of fighting had died down at some point that I hadn't noticed – probably because, you know, I couldn't hear for a bit there. I turned to look at where Thorn previously was and–

Holy hell that's a big hole in the wall.

I honestly don't know how I didn't notice it before; the temperature in the room had dropped by a pretty noticeable amount. The storm outside was still going strong, snow blowing through the hole with such strength and speed that there was already a good layer of it coating the floor.

"He used you as a distraction." Annabeth said, looking in the same direction that I was. "While we were all distracted by you being hit he broke straight through the wall and fled. Thalia and Zoe went after her, Grover is with the Di Angelo kids."

She nodded to the side where Bianca, Nico and Grover were.

Bianca's face was closed off and her eyes were like pieces of flint. She had Nico wrapped up in her arms, like she was trying to keep him close and out of danger. The kid didn't seem to care, though. He was bouncing around in place, running his mouth a mile a minute to ask Grover all kinds of questions.

Grover… Well, G-man just looked like he's walked into a hurricane. His clothes were ripped in a few places and his shoes were thrown off completely, revealing his hooves for the world to see. He tried to answer every question that was thrown at him, but I could see him fidget every time he met Bianca's eyes.

I turned away from them and looked towards Annabeth.

"Where were you during the fight?" I asked, getting straight to the point. I hadn't seen her at all while duking it out with Thorn. I mean, she was obviously doing _something –_ her clothes were slightly askew and her dagger had a bit of blood on it.

"I grabbed the kids," She said, nodding back towards the Di Angelo siblings. "And then I tried to take out Thorn's legs."

The 'which didn't help because of his bullshit regenerative ability' went unsaid. I nodded my head and hauled myself to my feet with a groan.

"Alright," I said. "Let's get a move on. Thalia and – Zoe, right? – aren't going to kill that thing by themselves."

Annabeth nodded and zipped up her pack. "What about the kids?" She asked. I glanced over at them and stifled a laugh at the look of suffering that was on Grover's face as he continued to answer questions that were shot at him. The siblings didn't give him a moment of rest, asking one question right after another.

Bianca and Nico seemed to be good at drawing out information and making people uncomfortable. Who knew?

"Well, we need to back up Thalia and Zoe and there may be something else here that could harm them." I said, starting to move forwards. "So I guess they're coming with us to hunt Thorn."

"That's a bad plan." Annabeth said, matching my stride.

I knew it was a bad plan. Hell, going anywhere _near_ Thorn is a bad plan. He was _evil_ , plain and simple. The monster infected the Mist around him – corrupted it and twisted it with his malice and hate. Where Thorn went, he poisoned the world with his presence.

The Mist – that driving force that separated the Mortal world from the Supernatural – it cried out for help every time Thorn so much as _breathed._

I couldn't let that stand. It wasn't a matter of principle – it wasn't because I was one of the good guys and we hunt the evil dudes – it was because Thorn was something that was _wrong._ Something twisted and _dark_ in such a way that it shouldn't exist. The Mist – the most neutral force that existed, a blurred line light and dark – felt _pain_ because of the amount of evil that seeped from the manticore's very existence.

"Well, do you have a better one Wise-Girl?" I asked.

"Run?" She asked.

"Not going to happen." I replied, because Thorn needed to die.

"Then no," She said decisively. "I don't."

I grinned.

And with that, we grabbed the kids and went for a trek through the snow.

…

AN: I don't know how to feel about this chapter. It's about… eight hours' worth of work and pretty much wrote itself – problem is, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It reads fine – at least _I_ think it does – but I'll leave it up to you guys to decide.

It tells what I want it to tell, though, so I'm mostly fine with it.

Next chapter should finish up the Westover Hall portion – and finally we'll get to see some more magic come into play.


	6. A Walk In The Woods

AN: No one ask. This chapter… It just ran away from me and went where it wanted to go, which kind of ruined any idea I had of keeping this chapter short. Enjoy 5.700 words worth of work. The longest chapter yet.

Edit: The initial chapter had too many hyphens due to my lack of sleep at the time.

…  
 _ **Chapter: Five  
A Walk In The Woods**_

I'll be frank – trekking through a snowy woods late at night in a blizzard sucks. A lot. It's cold, Jack Frost nips at your everything and your feet continuously sink to about mid-calf.

One good thing came from it, though; tracking Thorn and Thalia was easy because – well, Thorn was really big and so were his feet. He left holes in the snow that were about the size of my head and were extremely easy to follow.

That didn't stop us from moving at the pace of a paraplegic snail though. Nico was… well, short. He sunk all the way to his knees with each step and was having trouble keeping up, even when he walked in our steps. I offered to carry him on my back, but Annabeth shot that down due to the fact that there might be something else in the woods and I wouldn't be able to fight all that well if I was carrying someone.

"Okay, this isn't working." I stated aloud, watching my breath as it puffed into that little cloud of vapor that always seems to happen when it's cold outside. Annabeth, who was leading us along turned to look at me over her shoulder. "We're too slow. Thalia or the other girl could be dead by this point."

"It's been five minutes. Thalia can hold her own." Annabeth said, turning fully to look at me, completely halting our forward momentum. I frowned at that because, hey, we can talk and walk towards our inevitable goal of helping friends and murdering abominations, thank you. "And so can Zoe. Thorn is retreating anyway, so it's not like he'll continue to attack – he doesn't seem like the type to fight to the death."

That was something I could agree with. Thorn seemed like a 'spring a trap from afar and watch as you got yourself killed' type rather than a 'get in your face and claw your liver out' type. And he'd do all of it while snacking on babies and sipping orphan tears.

But that was the thing – Annabeth was basing this off of Thorn retreating and us _letting_ him retreat and I… well, really didn't want Thorn to leave here alive. Actually, I just didn't want him to _exist_ , really _._

"If it was you," She continued, catching my attention. "Then yeah, we'd probably be sprinting there to help, but Thalia? She'll be fine."

For a moment, I had no words. A glance at Grover showed me that even he was shocked by what Annabeth had said.

I mean, I always knew that Annabeth had her doubts about me – it kind of came with the territory. The Poseidon V. Athena thing was still a problem, no matter how much I tried to ignore it. Annabeth questioned me a lot, asking 'Are you sure?' and 'Did you think about this?'. A good portion of the time she would just shoot down one of my ideas before I could even finish voicing it.

I always figured that it was her way of showing that she cared – that she was just making sure that I wasn't about to get myself killed due to my own stupidity. But… there was always this little voice in the back of my head saying "Hey, she doesn't trust you as much as you think she does." I always ignored it – Annabeth was one of my best friends. The idea of her not trusting me was something that I never really wanted to contemplate.

But now… now she just went and practically slapped me in the face with it the fact that no, she didn't really trust me. She probably didn't mean for it to come out that way, or to be taken like that, but it still hurt to hear. I held my own just fine against Thorn earlier – I mean, I got smacked across the room once my attention wavered but… okay, you know what? Yeah. I can deal with it, no problem. I'm a big boy; my best female friend saying that she doesn't trust me as much as I thought she did doesn't hurt. Not at all.

Was I lying to myself? Yes. Did it really matter at the moment? No; there were more important things going on.

"… Okay. Ignoring that." I said, pushing all of the little lies I was telling myself and the slight feeling of betrayal into a locked closet and focused on keeping my voice level. "I can't just sit back and do nothing. You know that."

She sighed, shook her head and turned around to keep walking. "Thalia will be _fine_ , Percy. Zoe is a part of the Hunters of Artemis –which means that the entire Hunt will be here as well. Chances are that Thalia is with them right now and that Thorn is dead or gone. Relax."

Needless to say, I didn't relax. Annabeth had lost Thalia once – had seen her die and be turned into a tree. Yet, even after that – even after she'd _watched Thalia die_ – she still had such absolute confidence in her.

I knew Thalia could handle herself – hell, she and Zoe were holding off Thorn just fine earlier. But she was my friend and she was busy chasing or fighting a monster that was... well, a lot of things that I can feel but can't properly express in words without pulling out a dictionary and looking up synonyms for the word "Abomination".

And she was doing this all with a girl that was part of a group that I didn't have the first clue about.

Grover fell into step with me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey," He said quietly, eyes worried and lips pursed. "I know how you feel, but Annabeth's right. Thalia can take care of herself – you don't need to worry about her. And… Well, you know Annabeth didn't mean it like that."

I shook my head at his words, disagreeing. "I'll worry about her till we see her again, Grover. It's who I am – it's what I _do._ I'd risk my life for any of you guys." I glanced forwards towards Annabeth again, seeing that the Di Angelo siblings had moved up to talk to her. I sighed. "And… we both know that she meant what she said. Maybe she didn't mean to say it that way – or maybe she didn't mean to say it at all. But she meant it."

"Percy, come on. You know she didn't–"

"Do you know what her fatal flaw is?" I asked him, cutting him off. He looked nervous for a moment, probably wondering what I was going on about, but nodded anyway.

"Hubris," He said. "She told me after the quest last summer."

"And you remember the animosity she held towards me back when I first came to camp? Because I was the Son of Poseidon?"

He blinked at that but nodded. "Yeah, but she got over that."

"Do you really think that?" I asked and sighed when he nodded his head. "Hate to break it to you, G-man, but I've got the feeling that she didn't."

I wasn't all that sure about it, but my gut told me that Annabeth _hadn't_ gotten over it. Not really. It was more like she'd stuffed it somewhere else in that large brain of hers and chose to ignore it. Locked it behind a door and set the key to the side. The problem was that those things had a tendency to get out – to leak into every thought that deals with that subject. The things you tried to repress or hide away always end up coming back twice as strong.

I should know – I did the same thing with all of the thoughts about Annabeth not trusting me and now they were back and stronger than ever. Hell, now that I thought about it, it felt like she _hated_ me sometimes due to being the Son of Poseidon. She once yelled at me for using the creek to win a game of capture the flag and _she was on my team._

" _It wasn't part of the plan."_ Was her only reason for being so mad at me. And – well, it was one of those last moment desperate ideas that you try because 'hey, nothing else can go wrong and we're about to lose, so why not try it?' No one had been hurt and it had managed to grab us the win by _literally_ five feet.

And then there were the times in which she mocked my godly parentage. Which she did. A lot, might I add.

"But… she acts normal around you. Heck, you're one of her best friends!" Grover argued, looking at me in disbelief. I shrugged and didn't explain – because what was there to explain, really? It only took me a moment of thought to figure out that Annabeth had a problem with me and… well, I was _me._ Dense was practically used to _define_ me, not describe me.

Others may think that I was looking at this the wrong way – that my pride had been hit and, because of that I thought Annabeth didn't trust me. And, yeah. My pride _had_ been hit – but I didn't really care for that; nor did I have much of it to begin with. Maybe people would say that _I_ was the one with a problem against Annabeth – which, okay, I did. I had a few, really. She could get annoying sometimes when she decided that her pride was the most important thing. She's gotten angry at me before because I didn't know something and asked a question out of ignorance. I'd seen her be callous and cruel over the simplest of things.

And she's _still_ my friend. Hell, if Grover is my best friend then Annabeth is right behind him. She's always there when things go to shit, watching my back and making sure I don't get myself killed. I trusted her with my life because she's smart enough and dependable enough to make sure I don't kick the bucket.

Her words were like the last crack in a buildings foundation – except that building was hanging over the edge of a cliff that was called 'The Truth' and I'd just been dropped in.

But it didn't matter – _It didn't._ We were still friends and I knew that she would have my back any day of the week. She just… well, she just didn't trust me as much as I did her. That's all.

And that was fine. I'd just need to earn the right for her to trust me like I trusted her. That's _fine_. Thalia… Thalia was probably safe right now. Hanging out with the Hunters – whoever they were. All I needed to do was trust Annabeth and stop worrying. I could do that. It would be easy. Just focus on the cold air, the snow beneath my boots and the sound of stone grinding on stone…

I sighed and turned to look behind us. Couldn't the universe give me just a goddamn _moment?_

The sight told me that no, the universe apparently couldn't give me a moment and I should just suck it up and move on with my life.

The monsters had just pulled themselves off of Westover Hall, that I was sure of – there was still stone falling from the building to the ground. It was hard to tell through the snow, but they looked exactly like one would expect a gargoyle to look like – if said gargoyle was about twelve feet long, six tall, had a mouth filled with jagged stone teeth that dripped saliva everywhere and, you know, _moved._

"Gods…" Grover whispered, staring at the stone monsters in… shock? Confusion? I really didn't bother to guess.

"Annabeth, any ideas?" I asked, turning to face her – and promptly felt some of my hope vanish. I figured that she would have an answer – some known weak spot that gargoyles were known to have or something – but she was looking at the monsters the same way Grover was. She snapped out of it a few moments after I spoke, but she didn't manage to mask her feelings – those of confusion and fear.

"It–" She stuttered out a few words that I couldn't make out before she managed to get ahold of herself. "Gargoyle's aren't monsters in Greek mythology!"

I blinked and turned back towards the three – four, there's four of them – gargoyles. Annabeth didn't know about them – and she was a walking encyclopedia on her _bad_ days.

That… Didn't sound good. "Okay. That doesn't matter." I said with confidence – confidence that I didn't feel. It _did_ matter. A lot. Not knowing anything about your enemy is deadly at the worst of times. "Any idea on what we should do?"

The gargoyles were getting close. As in, a hundred or so feet from us close. Now, maybe if something was on the ground that would be a pretty sizable distance – but these guys were in the air and a hundred feet meant pretty much jack shit to something that flies. At this distance I could see a few things that weren't noticeable before.

They were _grotesque_ – and I say that because these things were absolutely disgusting to look at. They had muscle and flesh, for one, even if it looked nearly identical to the stone that made up the rest of it. Their wings were almost completely made up of stone as well, only having a thin layer of flesh and tissue near the base. Their eyes were made up of what looked like badly formed clay and there was something orange flickering in the mouth of the one closest to us.

My eyes widened as the implications of that set in. Luckily, someone else caught on as well.

"Into the trees!" Someone shouted and I didn't take a moment to question who. I just turned to the side and jumped with all of my might, easily clearing some ten or so odd feet between me and the tree line. I landed on my side and slid to a stop, buried slightly in the snow.

And then the world lit up with light and fire. I threw up an arm to block my face from the searing flames, grimacing as the temperature in the surrounding area instantly skyrocketed – enough so that I started to feel overly warm wearing my coat and the snow began to melt.

When the flames finally died out I glanced up – and barely managed to activate my shield in time. A pair of stone claws punched through it a moment later, like my shield was made of tissue paper. We slid backwards through the snow, the gargoyles momentum too much for me to stop. I snarled as I brought Riptide up in an arc to take the offending appendage off and grit my teeth as my blade experienced a great deal of resistance, making it maybe halfway through before it could go no further.

They can breathe fire and are apparently harder than the stone their made of. Fantastic. What else?

I immediately regretted asking that question as it roared in my face. This close it was like being hit by a wall of sound – a wall of sound that was made out of titanium and had a degree from the 'University of Fuck You' placed upon it.

"Go to hell!" I shouted at it – or at least I think I did. I couldn't exactly hear myself due to the ringing in my skull so I may have said "Go to school!" for all that I knew. I was in trouble, it was easy to tell. If I didn't manage to get away from it then it would eventually slam me into something that I wouldn't appreciate.

So, I changed tactics.

I was using my shield to protect myself – because if it wasn't between me and the gargoyle then I would've already been turned into bloody ribbons. But, at the same time, my shield was the only thing that was keeping the gargoyle and myself connected.

So, with a jerk I pulled Riptide from the monsters arm, brought it back around and severed the straps that kept my shield connected to my arm. As soon as the straps were cut – as well as a good portion of my coat due to my less than stellar aim – the gargoyle shot over head and plowed over a tree behind me, cracking it off at the base and toppling the entire thing over.

I didn't waste a moment getting back to my feet and rushing the thing. It was half buried beneath the tree that it'd taken out and was solely focused on getting out from under it.

Which meant that it wasn't expecting me to bring my sword down like the hammer of god and take its head off. Immediately its body shifted back into stone – limbs, decapitated head and all. I sighed and rolled my shoulders, trying to get the snow out of my clothing. It was in my coat – and in my sweatshirt, which was beneath my coat.

There was also snow in my shirt. Which was beneath everything else.

I reached down and plucked up my shield, grimacing at its state. It was wrecked beyond repair – some pieces were shorn completely off, leaving me with an object that was more like a square piece of sheet metal more than anything else. I tried to turn it back into a watch, but it got caught halfway and I had to drop it.

I may not be a smith, but even I know when something's utterly destroyed. I had other things to worry about – like my friends.

And then a sound from behind me reminded me that hey, I was me and _of course_ something else wants a piece of me. I whirled around, Riptide raised – and caught a face full of fire for it.

I screamed – but it was due more to surprise than pain. The flames completely covered my person and my clothes ignited. It hurt, yeah, but not as much as I expected. Hell, for a moment I thought that I'd just stepped out into the sun on a warm winter day rather than, you know, being in the middle of a flamethrower. My skin felt warm, like I'd been standing next to a heater for the past half an hour, but that was all.

I dove out of the flames – because, fire resistant I apparently may be, my clothes were _not_ and I didn't feel like walking through a blizzard in the middle of December with nothing on. The snow helped put the fire out quickly, so in a matter of moments I was back on my feet and facing the asshole that just torched me.

The gargoyle looked at me like it was affronted that I didn't die and turn into a cooked sack of human flesh that it could nibble on.

"That all you got?" I growled out, raising Riptide in challenge. It roared, though this one felt more like a slightly softer wall of sound when I compared it to its friends. "Come on big guy. Give it another shot!"

It roared again – though this time a jet of flame rocketed out of its mouth and once again set me ablaze.

This time, though, I ignored it entirely and ran straight at the gargoyle. It had given me the perfect opportunity – it couldn't see me and I was resistant to fire. For a moment I wanted to make a Pokémon joke – maybe shout something about fire attacks not being very effective against water-types – but instead I ducked out of the fire when I neared it and swung my blade with enough force to cut through a tree.

The monster must have seen me coming, though, because its wing interposed itself between my blade and its head. I had barely a moment to curse as it shot out and parried Riptide, sending my arm back the way it came with a sickening _crack._

I shouted as my arm broke and the gargoyle's wing twisted and smacked me away. I tumbled end over end through the snow until I finally slid to a stop, a small snow bank forming beneath me.

I didn't dare to waste a moment staying down, though. I drug myself to my feet, ignoring the fact that fire was still smoldering in some places on my shirt and kept my eyes on the advancing gargoyle. From the corner of my eye I could see the flickering of flames as embers shot into the sky.

"Damn," I muttered, wondering if I'd just managed to cause a forest fire. My arm felt like – well, it felt like it was broken. Which meant that it was half numb and half agonizing pain. I didn't bother looking, but my fingers still managed to hold Riptide, if only just. Warmth ran down my arm – blood, I realized after a moment. The bone must have pierced through the skin.

I reached down and switched which hand held Riptide. Camp taught us to use our weapons with both hands – something about " _Being prepared for the worst"_ as Chiron had put it. At the time I'd hated it – but right now I was glad to have suffered through it.

Keeping my eyes on the gargoyle proved wise a moment later as it leapt towards me, mouth gaping, and tried to take my head off. I skipped a step to the side and used Riptide to deflect one of its clawed hands away from my chest and ducked beneath the other. I was going to stab my blade up through its skull, but had to roll out of the way as it dropped flat onto its stomach in an attempt to crush me.

As I came out of it I swung low, hoping to score a hit while it recovered, but its damn wing was there to save it. I snarled something as my blade bounced of it, sparks leaping from the contact and had to disengage before I took another hit.

I backed off and looked watched it warily. Flames had begun to wick at the night sky as trees around us burnt. The first gargoyle had gone down easily; mostly because it had ended up pinning itself and all I needed to do was finish it off, but still, easily. This one… this one was more of a pain in the ass.

It was nimble for one, more so than I was. And a hell of a lot more durable to boot. Oh, sure, I could probably force Riptide through it if I tried hard enough but I had a feeling that there would be consequences for that. I'd have to swing _hard_ to do such a thing – and that would leave me open for a counterattack. If I could give myself a moment then I could grab the Greek Fire from my backpack, but that would probably make the forest fire into one that couldn't be put out by normal means and…

Well. That's just a bad idea. Magic was – well, it was useless here. I could make some fire, yeah, but everything was already on fire and this thing spit out fire and was probably resistant to fire–

I was distracted and it cost me. The gargoyle leapt forwards while I was being indecisive and tried to use the good ol' monster tactic of biting my face off. I ducked under it though and took a sucker punch to the kidney for my sin of trying to stay alive. I tumbled out from behind it a moment later, hunched and breathing heavily. My arm was moving past the stages of "Numbness plus agony" to "Just agony" and was affecting my concentration.

Deciding that my head wasn't being helpful at the moment, I listened to my instincts – and promptly ran away. It wasn't the "Fleeing for your life" kind of running away, no – it was the strategic kind. The kind of running away that you do when you need time to figure something out what you should do next. To strategize.

There was only one problem – I'm not good at strategizing. And, considering the sounds of trees toppling over behind me, the gargoyle wasn't about to give me the chance to even _try._ I turned to the side and tried to work my way back towards the path we were walking earlier, but a jet of flame had me abandoning that idea as the trees before me began to burn. I turned in a different direction – but another burst of fire had that route shut down as well. I looked around, trying to find an exit, but the air was filled with smoke, everything was burning and I was trapped in a small area with a stone, fire breathing jackass that wanted to eat me.

So much for retreating, I thought, glaring at the monster. I swore that it looked smug – and don't ask how something made of stone can look smug. It just _did_. I raised Riptide and settled into my stance, watching its every mood.

I wasn't Annabeth. Brilliant ideas that involve anything other than "beat it till it dies" are generally beyond me unless I have a moment of pure genius. And right now, I didn't think a moment of genius was going to happen. Fighting it head on could work, but at probable great cost to myself. Fire was out – it seemed resistant to it and everything was already burning. Greek Fire was _also_ out because… well, because. I couldn't use any other magic – didn't _know_ any other magic – and my demigod abilities were absolutely useless because I was surrounded on all sides by _fire_ and _snow_ and _not a body of water._

And then an idea hit me like a baseball at a Yankees game. Snow… was water, right? Just, crystal water. Like ice. But – I shook my head slightly. The mechanics were beyond me; the best grade I'd ever received in science was a C-, but that didn't matter. Snow and ice were made of water – purely water, nothing else.

So, if that was the case, what was stopping me from controlling it? I mean, maybe because it's no longer a liquid and is now a solid but… well, water is water, right? What was stopping me from using it besides my own power and belief? I was the son of Poseidon, god of the _Sea_. Something like 95 percent of all of earth's water resides in the ocean – Hell, I was more of a child of _water_ than anything. So what the hell could keep me from using it – any of it, solid, liquid or gas – as I saw fit?

Nothing besides myself, that's what. I closed my eyes and _hoped_ and _prayed_ and _believed,_ reached for the water that I knew was all around me – and I found it. Suddenly, with a sharp lance of pain in my gut, I could feel everything connected to the snow. I could control each and every individual flake, be they on the ground or in the air.

The snow that was in my clothing began to heat up and turn into pure water under my control, seeping through my clothes and onto my skin. It soothed the aches and pains I'd gained throughout the fight, granting me strength and healing my wounds. The cut I'd given myself earlier began to heal, as did the other nicks and bruises I'd gathered. The pain in my right arm lessened slightly, but I'd have to reset the bone if I wanted it to heal fully; if water alone could fully heal a broken limb.

I smiled and opened my eyes – and then, when the gargoyle was in mid-air and about to chomp down on me, I hit it with a snowbank. It roared as it was thrown to the side and only shut up when I force-fed it a dumpsters' worth of slushy, half melted snow.

I twirled Riptide once and shot off, the snow no longer impeding my movement. Each of my steps turned the soft white powder into a solid platform for me to stand on, allowing me to move as fast as I normally would – faster, actually, as I was empowered by the water that was still soaking through my clothing and onto my skin.

It was a bit difficult to control the snow – but the flames were slowly melting it, turning it into normal water for me to grab ahold of and use. And it's not like it didn't get _easier._ Every moment the strain lessened, the pain in my stomach dulled and controlling the snow became simpler, like breathing. It was just – well, snow _felt_ different. Like it wasn't mine to use, but at the same time _was._ Using normal water never felt like this – never felt like I was struggling against something else to control what I was _born_ to control – but every second it felt like it accepted me more, allowed me to more easily use it.

And in the end, that's all that mattered.

The gargoyle had just managed to clear its throat through judicious usage of fire when I tore Riptide through its wing in a single stroke, completely separating the appendage from its body. It roared again – though this time it sounded more like a pained shriek – and tried to knock me away.

I wasn't having any of that, though, as I called forth a whipcord of slush and knocked it away like it was an annoying flea. I pursued without a thought, chains of water and slush and snow twisting themselves around the monster and strengthening until they were as hard as steel.

It struggled and it strained, trying desperately to escape its confinement. Its other wing almost succeeded – but I brought Riptide down and sheered it off before it could break free. The gargoyle cried out again, but I didn't much care as I muzzled it with more water. I walked around to its front and stared down at it, meeting its glare with one of my own.

"You," I growled out, raising Riptide. "Were such a pain in the ass."

A single thrust ended its life – its features turning back to stone like its brethren's had. With a sigh I planted Riptide in the snow, ignoring the fires that were still raging about and _finally_ looked at my right arm.

My initial assessment had been correct – it was broken _and_ the bone had pierced through the skin. I grimaced, staring at it for a moment, wondering how should even begin on fixing it.

In the end I just grit my teeth, put my left hand on it and shoved it back inside of the skin. It _hurt_ – it hurt enough that a scream managed to tear its way past my clenched teeth and tears leaked from my eyes – but I got it back inside, if not back into place completely. Water flowed from every which direction, coiling around my legs and across my torso to cover my arm, wrapping around it like a cocoon.

Slowly, the pain began to fade. Slowly, I began to heal. It would take a bit; I'd guess five minutes or so. But five minutes to heal a broken limb? That's… well, broken, admittedly.

I left Riptide where it was and looked around myself. The trees were still burning and the fire seemed to have spread, but that wasn't much of a problem. A simple act of concentration had all of the water and slush in the surrounding area shoot into the trees, dousing the fires in only a few moments. I'd never made it far from the original ignition point, so that one act managed to douse every bit of flame that was around.

And, finally, after everything but the wind had gone silent, I listened.

The second gargoyle had gotten me earlier due to my own stupidity – and I wasn't about to just let that happen again. So I listened, I focused, and I waited.

And, when I heard nothing – and when none of the snow in the air felt anything – I relaxed, slumping forwards slightly. I gave myself a few moments to just relax; to let myself _think._

First things first; I needed to find my friends. There was still another gargoyle and, while Annabeth and Grover could take care of it, I still wanted to make sure they were okay. And then there was Thalia, and the Di Angelo's and…

I shook my head and focused on something that I'd been ignoring for quite a while.

The Mist unraveled from nothingness, unfolding like a book while simultaneously raising from the ground like fog. Describing it is difficult – I don't actually think that there's a way to describe it perfectly, not by using any language I know. It wasn't there one moment, but in the next, it was; suddenly coming into existence from absolutely nothing.

It was always there, though. Just in the background, invisible to the naked eye unless you were to focus on it, to actually _try_ to see it. It blended into the environment, faded out of natural eyesight, whatever. The mechanics weren't important at the moment.

What _was_ important, however, were the Trails that were left in it. Bits of a person's aura that was left behind in the Mist. I'd checked it to find my friends – to find their trails so that I could follow them. But, instead, I found something different.

I found Thorn's trail. It reeked of evil, like I was starting to think that it always did, but also of malicious intent – and it was close. Like, _in the trees right behind me close._

I whirled around and instantly experienced déjà vu as one of Thorn's black daggers pierced through my water cocoon and into my right arm, completely fucking up the healing that was happening as the bone was hit hard enough to get smacked out of place.

I growled, pulled Riptide from my pocket, and glared at the manticore.

Why the fuck can't the universe just give me a _fucking break?!_

…

AN: To head off a few things: _Yes,_ Percy _is_ that bullshit in canon. It's just never really touched upon because Rick wanted Percy to _not_ seem as bullshit as he actually is. Here's a quote from the wiki: " _He also heals himself from any wound and most poisons when he comes into contact with water, the amount of water and time needed for the healing being proportionate to the severity of the wound_." He also controls snow in SoN.

… Percy to OP, plz nerf.

And on another note: before anyone says "Hey, Percy and Annabeth have been through a good deal and she trusts him. Why would you make her doubt Percy here?"

The answer is… Well, that Annabeth _doesn't_ really trust Percy till the end of the first series. The fact that she knew the Great Prophesy the whole time but never told him is a good deal of proof. She also constantly questions his actions and decisions.

On a note that's relevant yet not; I, admittedly, don't like Annabeth that much. I haven't since… well, ever, really. She's always just bugged me in a way that I find hard to explain. There's a dynamic for a relationship there, most certainly, and canon Percy usually just shuts up when she wants something and that lets them get along better, but… Well, Percy here is a bit different – and so is everyone else. Not a lot, but a bit.


	7. A Chase Through The Snow

AN: Looking back on this chapter – and the story so far I guess – I feel bad about not going any further with the 'Magic' thing. But, well… it's only been a _day_ so far for him. For Percy, he just managed to make fire _this morning._ The moment I finish up the Westover Hall bit is when we'll drop back into the magic-ky bits.

On another note – I seem to have begun writing in large chunks of text. I… blame the fact that I re-read Ryuugi's Prytaneum for inspiration and kind of adopted the style. Sorry.

…  
 _ **Chapter: Six  
A Chase Through The Snow**_

"You're such a piece of shit, Thorn." I snarled, calling for the water in the surrounding area and sending a lance of it at the asshole. Snow and slush rushed forwards at terrifying speed, twisting through the trees in columns and tendrils. He dodged nimbly, leaping and twisting this way and that to avoid them, fleeing further away from me.

I didn't much care for that, though, as I pursued him. The snow acted like a stone floor for me, letting me move without issue. I even dumped a bit of water on my head, too, just for good measure.

He wasn't going to get away – I wouldn't _let_ him get away. I was going to catch him, hold him down and happily shove Riptide through his head because I was _pissed._ Thorn being here meant that one of two things had happened – he'd escaped my friends, or he'd killed them. And he'd taken _another_ pot-shot at me; a pot-shot that hit home just like the last one.

I was sick and tired of his shit and wanted him dead more than I already did. Which was a lot, by the way.

I wanted him dead because he was an evil son of a bitch. Because he wouldn't stop shooting me in the fucking arm _._ Because he might have _hurt my friends_.

Snow shot out of the tree branches, forming a wall in front of the manticore that I encased in water and solidified, strengthening it to be as hard as steel. But Thorn didn't stop; he jumped and swept a paw at it, claws slicing straight through the snow and ice. He followed a moment later, his body twisting to dive through my barrier with absurd grace – and I clenched the hand of my broken arm into a fist, the hole he dove through snapping shut and trapping his body within.

He roared, loud enough that I could see the wall _tremble_ from the force of it and began to struggle. His tail snapped out, the stinger on the end slicing through the barrier just like his claws had before. In only a few moments he was free of it, back on his feet and moving away from me. And that was okay – the barrier hadn't been meant to do anything other than slow him down.

I burst through the wall moments after Thorn, the snow and ice that it was made up of following on my heels. Thorn was only a few feet away now but was quickly outpacing me. A scowl twisted its way onto my lips as I forced my broken arm to move to the side, bit back the scream of agony that wanted to tear its way through my throat and curled my fingers. From behind me the snow rose, heating and turning into liquid as it curved to the right and the left, converging on the bastard.

He must have heard it coming, though, because he stopped – literally _stopped,_ twisting in place and launching himself towards me, jaw wide and teeth shining. The water I'd sent at him collided behind him a moment later, barely missing by a few inches.

For a moment, I was surprised. I was certain that Thorn would continue to flee until he either escaped or I managed to give him a lobotomy. Actively _attacking_ when he could be running away? I mean, yeah, he tried to spike me through the chest something like thirty seconds ago, but that was a sneak attack – a quick and easy chance to kill me. I was starting to think that he had a fetish for it because that had been the second time he'd tried in under thirty minutes.

In the end, though, I took it in stride. If Thorn actually _wanted_ to fight then I was all for it – because chasing your enemies down is just plain annoying. Before Thorn could eat me I let my feet drop out from under me, sliding beneath his leaping form in the best baseball slide I could manage. I raised Riptide as I went, carving a long but shallow cut down the entirety of his stomach.

Seconds later I was back on my feet, turning to where Thorn was, an insult on my lips–

"Oh you motherfucker," I muttered, watching as Thorn ran in a completely different direction, fleeing _again._ He was completely ignoring the cut on his stomach – and me. "Stop running!"

He didn't. He ran faster, actually. I cursed and followed, trying my hardest to catch up. Snow and water flowed, twisting through the trees and attacking him at every angle, but he didn't _stop._ Oh, a few times he'd turn around, throw a swipe or two at me and then bolt again, but he just _kept running_. Never in the same direction, never at the same speed, and never using the same tactics.

A part of me wanted to stop. To leave Thorn alone and go find my friends, to make sure that they were okay. But another part – a part of me that saw what he did to the Mist, that was watching as it blackened with every step that the manticore took wanted him _dead._ Dropped back into the Pit that was Tartarus, where he would hopefully suffer for eternity.

I didn't know how Tartarus worked, but I'd been close to it before – and even being _close_ to Tartarus was terrifying. I'd ignored it at the time, too ignorant to actually know what I'd been so close to falling into, but now I _knew_. I still had nightmares at night – of watching my friends fall into the Pit, of being hopeless to save them, of being exposed to the monstrosities that existed in what was the Greek equivalent of Hell.

Actually being in it? I figured that it had to be ten times worse, even for something as evil as Thorn was. There are things in this world that are worse than Thorn – and I hoped that they disliked him more than I did.

Finally, though, we burst out of the tree line and into a clearing. Thorn slid to a stop near the edge of a cliff and from it I could hear the ocean – could practically _feel_ it. Over the edge of that cliff was my father's domain; the largest source of power I'd ever be able to tap into.

And I knew I could. Knew that if I pushed far enough – dug deep enough into the connection I had with it – the ocean would scale this cliff and take Thorn and I into its embrace. A part of me wanted to do that; _wished_ to bring that connection closer, further linking myself with the sea.

I could do it – without a doubt I _could_ do it – but what would I be giving up to do that? When I was connected to the sea, I _was_ the sea and it was me. I connected to my father's domain in such a way that it practically became an extension of myself – or, most likely, _I_ became an extension of _it._

If I pushed myself too far… well, Percy Jackson would probably cease to exist and the ocean would take my place.

So, I pushed the feeling down. There was no need to go that far on Thorn – he was evil, yeah, with a level of intelligence that was probably more than my own – but he wasn't strong enough to risk erasing myself from existence.

Thorn slowly turned back to face me; heaving out a large, guttural breath as he did so.

"You," His voice came out as some shitty French sounding growl. "Are an _annoyance._ "

"Sorry you feel that way," I said, shrugging my shoulder. A quick flex of my fingers brought a smile to my face; it seemed my arm had finished healing. "But, if it'll make you feel better, _everyone_ thinks I'm an annoyance. There's probably a support group in Tartarus that tries to help monsters get over the annoyance I've made them feel. I could send you to them if you want."

Thorns lips twisted into a snarl as I smirked.

"You're just an impertinent godling that does not know his place." He hissed out, digging his claws into the ground and preparing to leap. I blinked at that. Impertinent pretty much meant rude, right?

"Probably not," I said, ignoring the fact that the guy who tried to sneakily stab me in the chest _twice_ was calling _me_ rude. Fucking hypocrite. "But I know yours. It's called Tartarus; lovely place. Have you heard of it?"

… Okay, so Thorn might have a point calling me rude – but he started it.

Thorn leapt at me with a roar of French sounding rage. I saw it coming from a mile away, the snow from the surrounding area rising to my call and raising into the air to block his first strike–

And then the world flashed white as a lightning bolt slammed down, cracking across Thorn's head and pile-driving him into the snow. I stumbled back, my ears ringing and my vision filled with white. The snow that had been raised into the air collapsed as my concentration faltered. I was blind.

So, I couldn't really be blamed for not seeing the spike that finally managed to hit me in the chest.

I dropped into the snow with a shout and a thud, hand reaching up to grope at the thing that was puncturing my lung. Each breath I took _hurt_ , feeling like… well, like I'd been stabbed in the lung, actually.

"Fuck," I spluttered, tasting blood as it flew from my mouth. The wound was already healing – the snow I was lying on was slowly melting and the dagger was being pulled from my flesh. The noise was finally starting to die away as well and spots of color were beginning to fill my vision, so it was only a matter of time before I could get back to my feet and actually _focus_ on something.

Preferably stabbing Thorn – because _fuck,_ he'd stabbed me three times and I was really starting to get sick and tired of it. There was just one tiny problem.

"Percy, move!"

The problem _was_ Thorn. Who wasn't really tiny, but my point still stands. The small bit of vision I'd regained clearly showed the lion-dude leaping at me, having recovered from taking a _lightning bolt_ to the _face_ like it was just another fucking Tuesday for him.

And yeah, it _was_ Tuesday – but I really hate Tuesday's and don't plan on dying on one.

Snow rushed forwards in a small wave, swamping over my body and pushing me to the side. I slid along the ground like a bobsled for a moment and barely stopped myself from making a joke about Cool Runnings.

I couldn't exactly feel the rhythm or the rhyme – the current thing I felt was pain every time I took a breath – and, well, it sure as hell wasn't bobsled time.

My vision cleared as the snow that was carrying me melted, sound rushing back as the newly formed water lifted me back to my feet. I grunted in pain a moment later when the dagger popped from my chest, the water that had been forcing it out flowing through the new hole and into my body.

It's… disturbing to have water wrap around your lung like a cocoon, I can say that with utmost certainty. But, while odd, it helped out a lot – letting me breathe normally for the moment. Blood was still leaking from my chest, but that wasn't all that important.

Ahead of me Thalia was going face to face with Thorn, electricity crackling along her form. Every swipe of the manticore's claws was met with either her shield or spear and his daggers were shot down by small bolts of lightning that originated from her arms. Her lips were quirked upwards in a fierce snarl and her eyes were glowing like blue flames.

She was striking the manticore with such ferocity that she was pushing him back, making him move ever closer to the edge of the cliff. Thorn tried to fight back – tried to keep Thalia from herding him to what would probably be his demise – but he just couldn't match up to her.

But then she slipped up. One of Thorns daggers managed to make it through the small lighting storm she'd called and pierced her in the gut, making her stumble back with a shout. Thorn's fangs were barred as he leapt towards her downed form, intent on ripping out her throat.

Something inside of me _cracked_ when she screamed. Like a crystal ball had been dropped onto the floor but hadn't shattered.

And then, in an instant, the snow melted. Not just that in the clearing – the snow in the trees and in the air melted as well, turning into a light shower of rain that fell to the ground. Water coiled around Thalia's limbs and drug her away from Thorn before he could even react.

He turned after her when he landed, a snarl on his lips – and his eyes widened as I met them from a foot away, Riptide already stabbing forth to pierce his neck. He twisted to the side to dodge and I cursed as Riptide cut a shallow line through his skin. A column of water slammed into him immediately after, shoving him away.

"You're as slippery as an eel, you know that?" I said to Thorn, backing off to stand before Thalia. Water rose from all around us, creating a buffer zone that was as strong as steel between the manticore and I. It was just an added bonus that it was simultaneously keeping him trapped inside.

"And you are as–!" I cut him off by shoving a lance of water down his throat. His claws came up and cut it off, but that didn't stop him from choking on the water that I'd already made him ingest.

"Oh thank god," Thalia gasped out, her right hand grasping at the dagger in her stomach as I crouched down, dropped Riptide and pulled my backpack off. Thorn would probably break out of his box within a few moments. "I hated his faux-French voice earlier. It's sounds even worse when coming from a lion's throat."

I snorted at that and pulled out my baggy of Ambrosia and grabbed two. I nudged her hand away from the spike in her stomach and grasped ahold of it, ignoring her cursing. "That I can agree with. Now, open wide."

The moment she opened her mouth I dropped the Ambrosia in, gave her a moment to clench her teeth, and ripped the dagger from her stomach. She grit her teeth for a moment, her brows knitting together in pain as the Ambrosia rapidly healed her.

I used Riptide as a crutch to stand back up and stared Thorn down. The monster was tearing through the water wall between itself and us, trying to get out. I gave him a little cheeky wave – and, you know, a literal one that knocked him backwards and onto his ass before I shored back up our defenses.

"So, everyone else okay?" I asked, glancing back down towards Thalia. She'd just started sitting up, spear in one hand and scary-face shield on the other. Her eyes were glowing blue and spitting sparks – probably from the extra charge that she'd gotten from the Ambrosia.

"Yeah," She nodded, accepting my hand and pulling herself up. I got a good look at Aegis as she did so and couldn't stop the slight shiver that went down my spine. "Zoe and I were still chasing Thorn when we ran into them. Annabeth and Grover were trying to keep these two gargoyle looking things away from the kids. We fought them for a bit before Zoe stayed behind to help out while I chased ugly over there, following the trail of destruction you left behind."

I glanced behind myself when she said that and realized that she was right. Snow was missing, branches were tossed around and even a tree or two had been uprooted.

"Huh," I said, looking at it. "Why'd you keep chasing Thorn?"

She rolled her eyes. "Annabeth figured that you'd gotten caught up in something since you hadn't found them already. Guessed that Thorn had found you again. She was right."

I blinked at that. There… wasn't really any way for me to refute that. Annabeth had been pretty correct.

"So," Thalia said, nodding towards Thorn. He was back on his feet and was tearing away at the liquid wall that I had set up, trying desperately to get out. "How do you want to deal with this?"

"Preferably by ripping his head off." I said, looking at the manticore. From the corner of my eye I saw her look at me, a slight smile on her lips.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but Thalia's _really fucking attractive_ when she's not being terrifying. Actually, she's _still_ attractive when she's being terrifying. The whole punk-rocker look was a thing, yeah, but it didn't detract from the fact that's she's a beautiful girl. Hell, covered in dirt and grime and being partly soaked didn't stop her from being beautiful.

And she's my cousin, so… Nothing happening there.

"I like that Idea." She said, lightning racing down her arms and zapping some of the water away. "I do offense while you get defense?"

"Uh, _you're_ the one with the shield."

"And you're the one with the fuckhuge walls of water. Go defense."

I couldn't help but laugh at that.

Moments later Thorn tore through the barrier before us and we met with a flurry of claws and blades.

…

AN: Put the shipping goggles away. It's not happening.


End file.
